It’s still very possible that Todd Akin won’t be running for the Senate this fall. He still has a month to leave the race and be replaced by a new candidate, provided he can secure approval from a Missouri court — something that would probably be a formality. He’d also have to pay for the printing of new ballots, another technicality that wouldn’t stand in the way of him exiting, if that’s what he wants.

In other words, Republicans still have good reason to try to isolate Akin, denying him political and financial support and separating themselves from him publicly with the hope that he’ll eventually conclude he’s on a doomed mission. This is why what Mike Huckabee did yesterday afternoon is so unhelpful to his party.

The former Arkansas governor and presidential candidate weighed inwith a fiery defense of Akin and a call for pro-life Republicans to defy party leaders and their “sleazy” efforts to force Akin out and “feed his body to the hungry liberal wolves.”